MEDIA RELEASE
13 May 2004

Unions Welcome Funding Boost to Bridge the Gap Between School and Work

The funding boost to get more school leavers into education, training or work will help to ensure young people have a fair chance at a career and a good start to their working lives, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

The Government has announced a $56.9 million package to help all 15 to 19-year-olds to successfully bridge the gap between school and work.

“Feedback the NZCTU received earlier in the year though the SkillNZ roadshows demonstrated that the end of secondary school is often the end of learning,” Carol Beaumont said. “Many young people are either not prepared to take the next step, or are not aware of how to take it.

“The bridge from secondary school to apprenticeship cannot be left to chance encounters. In practice many young people are getting lost along the way.”

The expansion of the Government’s successful modern apprenticeship programme by a further 500 apprentices is also welcomed, but it is the whole support package that is going to make the difference, Carol Beaumont said.

The CTU also had a formal agreement with the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs and supported the goal to have all school leavers in jobs or training by 2007.

“Unions will continue to actively progress initiatives that build a high-skill, high-value workforce,” Carol Beaumont said.

ENDS

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